2013 was a pretty great year for music and nothing quite cures that "where did the time go?" feeling like recollecting a year's worth of music enjoyment with conclusive consideration and whittling it down to a year-end list of bests. For putting together this here post I decided to drag out all the records I bought since last Christmas, spread them out on the floor like tarot cards, and listen to each of them one by one, like this:

And then write about them, like this:

The rub was trying to keep my list trim and fit thus accompanying my select "bests" are other titles I've enjoyed within the last twelve months. Happy New Year everyone! Peep my Best of 2013 on the downhill scroll...

LAST comes first not just because I'm a longtime avid supporter of Kyle Field as an artist and musician, but it just so happens that LAST was one of the very first new records I bought in 2013. LAST is one of those "total package" records about which I could spin infinite yarns of praise n' things regarding the songwriting, the recording, the artwork, and total overall vibe and I kind of already did that in the interview piece I put together last Spring and so I urge anyone interested in this two-fer plate of odd hip-hop with a lotta folk-rockin' goin' on to check it out as it'd be redundant to put further shine on this diamond.

This is San Francisco’s only indie rock beer festival and it's back at Public Works for a third year of great music and beer. Amoeba is thrilled that our favorites Mikal Cronin, Shannon and the Clams, Kelley Stoltz, Golden Void, French Cassettes, and Magic Fight are playing this beer-tastic event! And as if the rockin' tunes weren't enough, there is also unlimited local beer tasting from these great local breweries: 21st Amendment Brewery, Almanac Beer Company, Anchor Brewing, Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant, Cerveceria de MateVeza, Headlands Brewing Company, Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery, Pacific Brewing Laboratory, Pine Street Brewery, Pizza Orgasmica & Brewery, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, ThirstyBear Brewing Company, and Triple Voodoo Brewing.!

This is a 21+ event (of course!) and goes from 12:30pm - 6:30pm. Get your tickets nowsville HERE!

This year there seems to be more confusion than collusion when it comes to determining the borderline between Summer's end and Autumn's dawn. Recently, I made a break from San Francisco's foggy cold summer to spend some time basking in the high August sunshine on the Carolina coastline. It was with much distress that before I had even returned to California I couldn't help but clock the sudden emergence of all things Halloween on my Summer radar. Browsing the beer aisle had become an exercise in dodging pumpkin brews, hitting the local corner store for a sunblock re-up meant traipsing through a spooktacular displays replete with bulk candies, even a beloved backroad farmer's market had transformed itself, within the span of a week, from sunny Summer fruit central into a homespun Halloween headquarters. What [expletive] gives?
All this is leading up to the total relief I felt upon seeing the merry music video for "Kim Chee Taco Man" earlier this week, the first bit of music released from Kelley Stoltz's upcoming album Double Exposure (drops 9/24 on Third Man Records). The video, co-starring Grace Cooper of The Sandwitches, is enjoyably humorous and all but what really struck me is the breezy, endless summer vibe of the track mixed with the familiar voices, faces and places indicative of a fully made in San Francisco production. What's more, I feel that the timing of this little ray of light has restored my faith in the season. We may not enjoy much in the way of a visual display of change as the wheel of the year turns, but just like the Kim Chee Taco Man's disciples in the video, we relish, with gusto, those goodies bestowed to us from on high, whether they be gifted from gourmet gurus or simply the results atmospheric stability. In any case, from September to October, I've got to give it up for Summer in San Francisco!

Looking to scope the lay of the local pop scene in San Francisco? Seek no further than In A Cloud...II!

Finally, the long anticipated sister release to the initial In a Cloud - New Sounds from San Francisco compilation the fine folks at Secret Seven Recordsdelivered back in 2010 is ready for her coming out par-tay! Like her predecessor, In A Cloud II: New Sounds from San Francisco features 13 previously unreleased recordings from some of the city by the bay's finest, including: Vetiver, Ty Segall, Hannah Lew (of Grass Widow), Wymond Miles(of Fresh & Onlys), Chuck Prophet, Lucky Eyes, Will Sprott (of The Mumlers), Sonny & The Sunsets, Paula Frazer, Kelley Stoltz, Bad Backs (featuring Andrew Kerwin of Trainwreck Riders & Bianca Sparta of Erase Errata), Tim Cohen (of Fresh & Onlys and Magic Trick), and Papercuts with fresh-to-death cover art by Simon Evans. Unlike the previous In A Cloud jammer, this sweet baby is a limited vinyl-only release with 650 copies pressed so don't go sleepin' in on the release date (that would be today, y'all sleepyheads). The Hannah Lew track, "Octopus via Satellite", currently has my heart hypnotized like a gracefully executed intergalactic postcard, it's hard to imagine this would've could've ever been a throw-away creation. Get yours today at Amoeba Music!

A customer turned me on to this jam as I was ringing up his purchase, the debut record from one of the fictitious artists associated with Sonny Smith's 100 Records project. Considering that more than a few of my favorite bands began as an inside joke (like the Sugarcubes) or some similar spontaneous venture (hello OOIOO) the scheme beneath Earth Girl Helen Brown's Story of an Earth Girl six song EP (on Forest Family) would be easy to miss if it weren't for the intergalactic, martian-love blues that color this collection of stellar musicianship --- a pleasant oddball mix of doo-wop, (earth) girls in the garage, Muscle Shoals soul, and a heady dose of feminine mystique.

"I Walked All Night" - Earth Girl Helen Brown

Captained by Heidi Alexander of the Sandwitches, with sandy sister Grace Cooper also on board along with a crew of SF local hitmakers (including Kelley Stoltz, John Dwyer and Sonny Smith, of course), this infinitely enjoyable record sets the bar way high for future endeavors. Limited to 500 copies on 10" white vinyl, Story of an Earth Girl dredges memories of some of my past loves and style crushes circa 80's (an obvious influence?), 90's (Meryn Cadell's "The Sweater"!!!) and all points beyond: xoxo!